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EnglandPsychology

Memory and sleep and dreaming

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What do the memory core studies show about amnesia and how memory can be distorted?

The memory core studies: the classic study Wilson et al. (2008) on a patient with severe amnesia (Clive Wearing), and the contemporary study Braun et al. (2002) on how misleading advertising can create false memories.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 memory core studies, covering the classic study Wilson et al. (2008) on a patient with severe amnesia and the contemporary study Braun et al. (2002) on how misleading advertising can create false memories, including the aim, method, results, conclusions and evaluation of each.
11 min answer →

What makes memory better or worse, and what happens to memory in amnesia?

Factors affecting the accuracy of memory: interference, context and cues, false memories and the effect of leading information, plus amnesia (anterograde and retrograde) and the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 memory topic on the factors affecting memory, covering interference, context and cues, false memories and leading information, amnesia (anterograde and retrograde), and the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.
10 min answer →

Why do we sleep and dream, and what do the main theories say?

The features and functions of sleep (the stages of sleep, circadian rhythms and the restoration and evolutionary theories) and theories of dreaming, including Freud's psychoanalytic theory and the activation-synthesis theory.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 sleep and dreaming topic on the features and functions of sleep, covering the stages of sleep, circadian rhythms, the restoration and evolutionary theories of sleep, and theories of dreaming including Freud's psychoanalytic theory and the activation-synthesis theory.
11 min answer →

What causes sleep disorders like insomnia, and what do the sleep and dreaming core studies show?

Sleep disorders (insomnia and narcolepsy) and treatments such as sleep hygiene, plus the sleep and dreaming core studies: the classic study Freud (1918) on the Wolf Man and the contemporary study Williams et al. (1992) on dreaming.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 sleep and dreaming topic on sleep disorders (insomnia and narcolepsy) and treatments such as sleep hygiene, plus the core studies Freud (1918) on the Wolf Man and Williams et al. (1992) on dreaming, with the aim, method, results, conclusions and evaluation of each.
11 min answer →

How is memory structured, and is it a faithful recording or a reconstruction?

The structure of memory: the multi-store model (sensory, short-term and long-term memory, with encoding, capacity and duration) and the theory of reconstructive memory (memory as an active, fallible process).
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 memory topic on the structure of memory, covering the multi-store model (sensory, short-term and long-term memory with encoding, capacity and duration) and the theory of reconstructive memory as an active, fallible process.
11 min answer →